Fears of Yesterday
by Nathalaia
Summary: Spinoff to Timeless. A year has almost gone by and things are steadily getting better. But it's not all good yet.


_Summary: Spinoff to _Timeless_. A year has almost gone by and things are steadily getting better. But it's not all good yet._

_AN: __**Important note. This is a story belonging in the world of **__Timeless__**, my other fan fictionswith Kuroshitsuji. Therefore, if you are a new reader and haven't read **__Timeless__**, you might want to do that, as events in that story are to be referred to in this one. This is, after all, a spinoff to **__Timeless__**. You can, if you are too lazy to read the other one, continue reading this story, but there might be things you'll miss out.  
**__  
On another note… Lookie~! The first spinoff is finally here! xD I was considering several titles for this one – and still am – but for now I stick with 'Fears of Yesterday' because I like the sound of that. What do you prefer? 'The Promise' or 'Fears of Yesterday'?_

_And for your information, I stayed up till 4 am last night to finish this So be happy~!_

_A small warning of possible OOC-ness… Well. Damn it all._

_And I am sure I make some… Odd sentences sometimes, so if you see one – or more - that should be revised or anything, please help me improve by telling me :)_

_I present to you_  
_Fears of Yesterday_

_Disclaimer: Why in the world would I be on this site if I was the mangaka? Exactly; I'm_ not_ the mangaka. Besides, I couldn't even draw if my life depended on it and I would make the characters suffer. Immensely. I just can't help it._

* * *

A hand was sliding through the soft hair in easy movements. The other hand was occupied with a book. William's eyes easily ran over the words on the pages, taking in everything he was reading.

The blond, head resting in his lap, was slumbering peacefully, tired from another long day at work. His breathings calmed William down while he was reading, making him relaxed. The sound of the other's soft breaths had such an effect on him and therefore he enjoyed these times; his lover either leaning on him or lying with his head in his lap, as now, sleeping or just relaxing, while he himself just read a book and played with Ronald's hair, occasionally nipping from the cup of coffee placed on the table in front of him.

William tore his gaze from the book's content and looked at Ronald instead.

The younger's face looked calm and peaceful and made William's mouth turn upwards in a smile. That serene look on Ronald's face almost made one forget what he had been subjected to months ago.

The small smile turned into a frown and he removed a stray lock of hair from Ronald's face, tucking it behind his ear and in the movement stroking his cheek.

After their talk in William's office about a year ago, their relationship had formed slowly, but steadily. They both knew they liked each other, but in order to make Ronald adjust to being touched by another, they had to take things slowly.

As soon as he didn't shy away from one of William's touches they had moved on to the other three idiots, also known as Grell, Eric and Alan. After some time, Ronald only flinched from a sudden or harsh touch. He didn't always like being held too tightly, though, because it reminded him of being pinned to the ground by the demon, incapable of escaping. William had found this out when he once held the younger and he had panicked and hit him. Quite hard, mind you.

It had taken a month to make him fairly comfortable with being touched again, but it had taken three months to reach the stadium where he wouldn't flinch at a simple touch. And ever since the talk in the office, William and Ronald had had small talks about the demon and what it had done. Twice a week the first month, later once a week. And when it would become too much for the blond, William would comfort him with an embrace, as he had done the first time.

William smiled slightly and closed the book with an almost inaudible _smack_, placing it on the table and instead taking his cup of coffee and sipping to it. He then ran his hand over one of Ronald's eyebrows, continuing down to his cheek, caressing it softly.

How often didn't he think of that demon and how it had deserved eternal torture instead of an easy death? After all the pain it had put Ronald through and all the frustration and anger it had caused William and the others. He could only hope it suffered in death.

William sighed softly and moved a pair of fingers to Ronald's lips, brushing them gently.

The thought of those soft lips pressed against his own made him smile. It was first two months after their talk that they had shared their first kiss. Since then, though, there had been more, naturally. Be it a soft peck on the lips or a mind-blowing kiss.

William's eyebrows furrowed. The _demon _had kissed Ronald, too. Hell, it had done things with Ronald that William hadn't. William had never been together with Ronald sexually, as the other had yet to overcome that fear. And it was fine with William. He didn't want Ronald just for the sex, but because he _loved _him. That he would always stop him before things got too serious was fine with him. It didn't anger him in any way. But thinking, _knowing_, that the demon had forced itself on Ronald countless times, ending up in Ronald being totally unresponsive for days and later on fear anything and everyone…  
_  
That _made William's inner boil. And the smug demon had known that. Its revenge hadn't turned out as planned, but it hadn't been fruitless either. Far from it.

William scowled slightly and turned his focus on Ronald at his side, caressing his temple. A soft sigh was evoked from the blond, but he didn't stir from his slumber. The scowl changed to a smile again.

Really, Ronald's company made his image as a cold-hearted man shatter.

He emptied his cup and carefully moved Ronald's head away from his lap so he could stand up and get some more coffee. He strode towards the kitchen and stopped at the coffee machine, re-heating what was left.

Ronald didn't drink coffee, unless he had to stay up late, and even _then _he only did it to get energy as to not fall asleep. He thought it tasted too bitter, so he always added loads of milk and sugar, ruining it in William's opinion. Personally, he preferred it black, occasionally with a drop of milk or two.

William eyed the coffee machine with an almost lazy expression on his face.

The blond's smiles where more real now than they had been after the incident with the demon. When he sent William a smile nowadays, it was always filled with happiness and his eyes had gotten the glow back. Some days he got depressive, though, and the smiles would be replaced by a frown, sometimes even tears. The tears didn't come often, but it happened. Other times he would lock himself up in his and William's bedroom, refusing to come out and let anyone in. Even William. It was always the same: Ronald would lock himself in and keep William out and William would try not to worry about him and what he might do while alone. Then, after a certain amount of time, Ronald would open the door ajar and peep out, quietly begging him to come while apologising, and William would always shush him and lead him to the bed where they would sit down and he would hold him without talking.

William sighed and poured the now hot coffee in his cup.

Ronald was slowly getting better, no doubt about it. There was still a long way to go, but he had improved a lot since their talk in the office. Now they just-

Without any warning or whatsoever, the room was enveloped in a blinding darkness. William frowned and raised the cup to his lips to cool the coffee down. The lights seemed to have gone out.

Then he went cold at a sudden thought; Ronald was terrified of darkness when he was alone, as he was now.

As if on cue, a crash and a whimper were heard, and then… Nothing.

William's heart sank and he felt horrible for leaving Ronald, even if he couldn't have known the lights would go out just then.

"Ronald!" William called and moved forward in the darkness, honestly not knowing what was up and down. This was his own house and yet he still wasn't sure he was heading in the right way. He felt around for anything that could tell him where he was and found a wall, which he followed.

When no answer came from Ronald, he cursed. What had happened? There had been a crash and a whimper from Ronald, and then he had heard nothing more. Had he fallen in his search for William and knocked himself out or something? Or was he just too petrified to answer him? No matter what, the answers he could come up with weren't anything good.

William grit his teeth and made it to the door leading out to the living room – or so he _thought_, anyways - trying to make out _something _in the darkness. Why the hell did Ronald have to wake up just as the lights went out? His timing really was poor.

"Ronald!" he called again and wasn't really surprised when he got no answer; rather, he became more nervous by each second. Why didn't the boy _answer_? A simple whimper or a cry would be enough, because then William could figure out where he was located and get to him faster.

But this… Sneaking his way through the room, stumbling into numerous things, was no good at all.

He had to get to Ronald quickly and calm him down. The blond had suffered from fear of darkness ever since the incident and would panic each time. William had found this out almost half a year after their talk in the office, where he had found Ronald in their bedroom, alone and shaking because of the fear. It had taken an eternity to calm him down. Fortunately it had only happened one time after that, but now it seemed he had to calm Ronald down again, wherever he was.

"Ronald! Answer me!" William said and almost walked into the couch. He had to be close to Ronald now.

And then he heard it, the whispered call of his name, almost so soft that he didn't catch it. But he did and knew Ronald was somewhere close. But where…

He continued to feel around for a short amount of time, actually kneeling down and crawling to make sure he didn't fall over Ronald.

His hand finally found the blond's leg and he let out a breath of air, relieved. He had found him. Now he just had to calm him down.

"Ronald…" he said softly and reached for Ronald's arm, but the blond just let out an alarmed cry and shied away. Great. He was too far away in his fear to recognise William. The darkness really didn't help at all, as the younger couldn't even _see _him.

"Calm down, it's me," William spoke and sat down at Ronald's side. "I'm not your enemy, Ronald. The demon is long gone. I won't ever hurt you. I promised you."

Ronald let out a soft whimper, but made no further movement.

William grit his teeth and resisted the urge to curse loudly. It surely wouldn't help this situation if he began ranting about the demon and how it should _burn in Hell_.

"Ronald, everything is alright," William said and tried to reach out for the blond again. Fortunately he didn't shy away this time. Quite the opposite, in fact; he wrapped his arms around William, clinging to him and trembling like a leaf. He could feel the tears of the other rapidly wetting his shirt and sighed. This brought with it a sense of déjà vu – all the other times he had held Ronald like this and he had cried so much his clothes had gotten all wet.

William slowly, carefully, placed his arms around Ronald, too, and held him closely, resting his head on the other's. "No one is going to hurt you here, not as long as I'm here to protect you."

… Really, Ronald turned him so soft. No wonder Grell always teased William about it, although it often ended in a smack on the red-haired idiot's head using his death scythe. He might be soft when around Ronald, but definitely not Grell. And he certainly wasn't a 'softy' in any means - he just tended to speak softly to Ronald whenever it was needed and be a bit less composed with him. Only _him_.

Ronald let out another whimper and buried his head between William's shoulder blades, shaking just as much as before.

William sighed and began to rub circles on Ronald's back, hoping to calm him by doing that. "Ssh…" he murmured and continued to speak softly to the other, doing his best to soothe him.

It was only after some time that Ronald stopped crying. He still trembled, though, and held on to William for dear life. William just continued to speak reassuringly to him, caressing his back and neck and hoping the light would return soon, because only then Ronald would calm completely down.

The lights returned after an hour and William kept talking softly to Ronald all the time. Sometimes the other preferred when he kept talking to him; other times he would rather they just sat in silence. This time had been one where he had needed to keep talking to keep Ronald somewhat calm and away from his memories and fears.

As the light returned he could finally get a proper look on Ronald. He was still shaking but was quickly calming down now that the light was back and he could see again. Most importantly, he could see _William_.

William's gaze caught the sight of blood and he quickly grabbed Ronald's arm, looking at the cut there. Must have been from the crash he had heard. A look around the room had him convinced about this, as some glass was shattered on the floor near the couch. Ronald must have, in his quickly approaching panic for not knowing where William was and maybe not knowing exactly where he was _himself_, given that he might still be a bit tired and slow, toppled the glass on the floor in a desperate move to stand up and ended up cutting himself. Maybe he had fallen, too, and had stayed on the ground as the fear had overcome him.

William sighed softly and gently placed two fingers on Ronald's jaw, turning his gaze to him. "Are you okay now?"

Ronald nodded shakily, not saying anything.

William nodded and stood up, pulling Ronald with him. "Follow me. We need to clean that injury."

The two headed to the bathroom where William first placed Ronald on the floor and then found a washcloth and soaked it in lukewarm water.

"Let me see your arm," William said and turned to Ronald, kneeling down in front of him. He held out his arm and William took it, gently dubbing the cloth on the cut. A hiss and then silence and he continued to clean the wound quietly, the only sound coming from the water every time he soaked the cloth anew. The cut wasn't _that_ serious, but William still thought it best if it was cleaned.

"… I'm sorry…" Ronald spoke quietly while William was in the middle of wrapping bandage over the wound.

William paused in his actions and gazed at Ronald, his eyebrow rising slightly. "For what?"

"For troubling you," he whispered. "Not only because I act like that when it gets dark, but I even toppled the glass and got cut and-"

"Just be quiet," William said firmly and finished wrapping the bandage on the blond's arm. "You are not in _any way_ troubling me. I'm doing this because I _want _to. So don't apologise."

Ronald smiled a bit. "You tell me that a lot, don't ya?"

William eyed Ronald and allowed a small smile to tug at his lips. "Yes. And I will do it until you learn it. Now, did you get injured any other-"

A soft kiss on his lips cut off the rest of the sentence he had meant to say. It was short and when Ronald retreated he smiled as he saw the almost non-existing blush adorning William's face, which he tried to hide by adjusting his glasses.

"Thank you," he said softly. "I'm fine now."

William sighed and gently stroked Ronald's cheek. "You are an idiot. Now, let's make you some tea."

Ronald smirked and stood up, this time the one to drag William with him. "Yeah, 'cause coffee sucks."

"Honestly," William scoffed and headed to the kitchen with Ronald. "You're just in denial."

* * *

_AN: And there it is! Aaah, I think I managed some fluff among the angst. I actually like this spinoff. It's not often I like what I write x''D There are parts in this I don't like, though, but… Well. Overall I think it's good. What do you think? I would appreciate it if you leave a review, especially if you include constructive criticism! :D_

_I'm not too sure about the last lines, but what the hell… And sorry if they are out-of-character. Also, if you spot any typos or other mistakes, please tell me so I can fix it :)_

_Ah… I don't have much more to say. I don't think so, anyways. I hope you enjoyed reading :)_

_The next spinoff I'm planning is temporary named 'Snowy Days' (Without spoiling too much, I can let you in on a secret: It's about snow~! x''D) I can't say when it'll be up, though. I am pretty sure that I'll write it, but not a hundred percent. But still~_

_Till then, dearies~_


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